Trump campaign says it won't credential Bloomberg News reporters for campaign events
President Trump's reelection campaign announced Monday it will not credential Bloomberg News reporters after the news outlet said it would not investigate owner and presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg and his fellow Democratic competitors. At the same time, Bloomberg News' editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said that it does plan to "continue to investigate the Trump administration, as the government of the day."
"As President Trump's campaign, we are accustomed to unfair reporting practices, but most news organizations don't announce their biases so publicly," Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement. "Presented with this new policy from Bloomberg News, our campaign was forced to determine how to proceed."
The Trump campaign said it would not credential Bloomberg News representatives at campaign rallies and events, and "will determine whether to engage with individual reporters or answer inquiries from Bloomberg News on a case-by-case basis."
Parscale called Bloomberg News' presidential primary campaign coverage plan "troubling and wrong." The Trump campaign said its decision not to credential Bloomberg News reporters will remain in place until Bloomberg News reverses its decision not to investigate Bloomberg and his fellow 2020 Democratic presidential contenders.
Micklethwait defended the outlet's reporting and rejected the Trump campaign's accusation of bias.
"We have covered Donald Trump fairly and in an unbiased way since he became a candidate in 2015 and will continue to do so despite the restrictions imposed by the Trump campaign," he said.
The decision by the Trump campaign comes after Bloomberg officially joined the field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates last month. Following the announcement, Micklethwait told Bloomberg News staff in a memo it wouldn't investigate Bloomberg, his family and his foundation, or the other Democratic contenders.
"We cannot treat Mike's Democratic competitors differently from him," Micklethwait said
Micklethwait said Bloomberg News would re-evaluate how it covers the former New York City mayor if he wins the Democratic presidential nomination.